


Countdown

by Laerkstrein



Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: Auron - Freeform, Gen, Tidus - Freeform, Zanarkand, final fantasy x - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-07-16
Updated: 2010-07-23
Packaged: 2017-10-10 14:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/100658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laerkstrein/pseuds/Laerkstrein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just days before landing in Spira, Tidus was just another teenager, living his life in the world of a dream. A dream that the rest of the world has never even seen. And it was the dream that would be the countdown to his, and Spira's, destiny. Pre-FFX</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> "Countdown" begins seven (7) days before Tidus and Auron are sucked into Spira by Sin. This is my seven day countdown to the beginning of Final Fantasy X.

The countdown buzzer sounded, signaling the last few seconds of the game as the ball flew from one player to the next. But one player, in particular, felt his adrenaline pulsing faster as one of his teammates sent the ball in his direction. He shot upward, taking hold of the desired object, and turned fiercely, weaving through the defenses of the opposing team as he quickly made his way to the goal.

Having reached the desired point in front of the opposing goal, he threw the ball high over his head, quickly following it as it burst out of the sphere pool. He found himself in a moment of pure weightlessness as he back flipped, sending the ball straight back into the sphere pool where it whisked past the goalie and entered the opposing team's goal, securing yet another victory for his own team.

He soon dropped back into the sphere pool, and found himself surrounded by his friends and teammates. Their smiling faces made him grin in turn, just as the final buzzer sounded. But as he began to swim out of the sphere pool with his team, he noticed something odd. The final buzzer was still going off. Before he reached the outstretched arms of his coach and teammates, the blaring sound of the buzzer filled his head, and he felt his life steadily drift away as the water overcame him.

"No... No! NO!"

Tidus rolled off the side of his bed, hitting the hard floor with a heavy thud. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and abruptly slammed his hand down on his buzzing alarm clock. He looked up at his nightstand, realizing that the damned clock had been the reason for the interruption of the wonderful dream he'd been having.

"Hell," the teen muttered, glowering at the now silent clock. "Why the hell does this piece of shit always go off when I'm in the middle of something important?"

He picked himself up off the floor, throwing the blanket back onto his bed as he made his way out into the hallway. The fresh scent of coffee hit him square in the face: a sure sign that his guardian was already awake. Tidus padded down the hall to the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the closet as he closed the door. He glanced at the mirror, noting the small patch of steam that sat in one of the corners. Clearly, Auron had been and gone.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Tidus shook his head. "Getting up at the crack of dawn like that... It's crazy! Who in their right mind does something like tha-" A sudden knock on the door stopped Tidus mid-sentence. He knew who it was before they even spoke.

"Yo, Tidus! You awake yet?" Tidus's friend, Arlan, called through the door.

Tidus turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Get a grip, Arlan," he said. "I'll be out in a bit."

Something heavy hit the wall outside the bathroom, and Tidus grimaced. Not only was Arlan there to pester him, but Teyron and Szera, too. The four were the best of friends, and did nearly everything together. But Tidus sometimes wondered why he didn't bother to give Arlan and Teyron a good smack in the back of the head. Of course, Szera, being the only girl in the group, took care of that duty multiple times a day.

"Hey, Szera!" Tidus called. "You out there?"

There was another loud thud against the wall before he heard Szera's voice. "Yeah, I'm here. Whatcha need?"

Tidus smirked as he turned on the shower. "Give Arlan and Teyron a good smack for me, will ya? And make sure they don't break anything."

He could almost see the smirk on his friend's face as she replied. "You got it, T!"

The bathroom door opened fifteen minutes later, and Tidus emerged, fully dressed with a towel over his head. He tossed the towel into his bedroom as he made his way down the hall to the front room to meet up with his friends. Amazingly, Arlan and Teyron were sitting quietly on the couch with a smug-looking Szera sitting between them, staring into the kitchen where Tidus heard a familiar voice.

"Does this happen often?"

Tidus smacked himself in the face. He could have died right at that moment. There he was, ready to spend the day with his friends, and they were, probably, having a conversation about him with his guardian. At the moment, he couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing than that. Tidus peeked around the corner into the kitchen, confirming his fear.

Oh, crap! he thought. Now I'm gonna have to go the rest of the day with this humiliation weighing down on me! Please, Szera! Please, don't say anything!

"On a daily basis," the red head replied with a grin. "These two," she pointed at Arlan and Teyron, "are always screwing around, so I've made it my duty to put an end to their stupidity whenever the need arises."

"What about Tidus?" Auron asked. "How do you deal with him?"

Tidus glanced in Szera's direction, noting that she was grinning at him. "Well, I-"

"I'm done!" Tidus announced, cutting in. "Now, let's go!"

The newspaper hit the counter, signaling that the older man hadn't found anything of interest in the local rag. "Hold it, boy," Auron said.

"What the hell do you want, old man?" Tidus muttered. "I'm dressed, clean, and ready to go. What more do you want?"

Auron sighed, giving Tidus a look. "I want to know where you're going."

Szera snickered. "We're gonna hang around the docks for a while, browse the shops at the Center, and then head to tonight's game. And don't worry about a thing," she said, throwing her arms around Teyron and Arlan. "I'll keep these three idiots in line! You can count on it!"

"Yeah, yeah," Tidus said, giving Szera a look that said 'shut the fuck up.' "So, can I go now, Auron?"

The older man shrugged as he left the room. "Just don't do anything stupid."

Trying to ignore Auron's last comment, Tidus changed the subject. "What the hell did she do to you guys?" he smirked, noting the bright red hand prints on Teyron and Arlan's faces.

Teyron ran a hand through his short brown hair, throwing the finger at Tidus with the other hand. "Fuck off, dude. You know damn well what she did to us. Now," Teyron stood up and stretched "are we gonna lounge around here waiting for your shadow to get back, or are we gonna blitz?"

Tidus glowered at the snickering forms of Arlan and Szera on the couch. "Guys, cut it out. Auron's not my shadow, all right? He's just my guardian."

Szera smirked. "I'm sorry, Tidus," she said. "But you know that we're never gonna give that one up, right? I mean, think about it. He's more like your shadow than anything else. And you can't blame us for speaking the truth, can you?"

"Yeah, I can. It's not that hard," Tidus shot back.

Arlan stood, stepping between the two before Tidus said something that would cause Szera to claw his eyes out. "Now, children," Arlan said, trying to slick back his white hair in an attempt to imitate Auron. "This is no way for you two to behave, understand?"

Teyron fell to the floor in a fit of laughter as Tidus' fist connected with Arlan's face. "Shut up, Arlan."

Szera grabbed Arlan by the wrist before he had a chance to fight back. "That's enough, boys. Now, are we gonna blitz or spend the day mocking Tiddy about his guardian?"

"Can't we do both?" Teyron suggested, earning a dirty look from Szera.

Tidus headed to the refrigerator, grabbing some sports drinks to take with him. "Not funny, Teyron," he muttered, shoving the drinks into his bag. "Hey! You guys got money for the game, right?"

Szera nodded. "Yeah. Hey, we'll meet you outside," she said, dragging her two friends out the front door. "Don't take too long!"

0 - + - 0 - + - 0

After gathering what food he needed for the day with his friends, Tidus grabbed his key and headed to the door. "I'll be back later tonight!" he called into the house as he closed the door.

"So, where to?" Teyron asked, kicking the blitzball down the dock.

Szera shot him a playful scowl. "We're getting to that, you dolt. Now," she pulled the schedule for the night's blitz games out of her satchel "the game starts around nine, so that gives us plenty of time to, as Arlan says, 'dick around.'"

Tidus snickered at the phrase. Over the years, Arlan had garnered quite a reputation for being a foul-mouthed clown. But, for as long as Tidus had known him, Arlan hadn't let said reputation put a damper on his sense of humor. As fate would have it, each year, his humor seemed to make its presence known more fully than in the years before. And for someone like Arlan, that, in itself, was one hell of an accomplishment.

The group headed into town in search of a practice arena for them to start their own game. Fortunately, they found one, just three blocks from the Center where they would be spending the majority of their time before the big game started. Szera ran ahead of the boys, who were window-shopping for new blitz gear, and managed to book the practice arena before another group arrived.

"Let's go already!" she hollered over the bustling crowds. "You'll have plenty of time to pick up some of that gear after practice! Now, hurry up, or I'm ditching you!"

Not wanting to be left behind, the three boys pushed their way through the crowds and made it into the arena. But by the time the doors closed behind them, Szera was already inside the sphere pool with the blitzball, waving mockingly at her friends, who were struggling to remove their clothes from over their blitz uniforms. Tossing their belongings into one collective pile by the bleachers, Tidus, Arlan, and Teyron dove into the sphere pool to chase after Szera.

The group went through their usual routine, deciding to team up for a short series of two-on-two games instead of playing "every man for himself." Tidus opted to play alongside Szera after having learned that teaming up with either Arlan or Teyron led him to complete, and utter, failure at Szera's hands.

"Ah. That was a good workout," Arlan sighed with satisfaction, his short white hair sopping wet as he climbed out of the sphere pool and headed to the locker room to change.

Tidus shook out his hair, grabbed the towel from his bag and followed Arlan. "What do you mean 'workout?' You didn't even put in an honest effort to win, you loser. How the hell can you, of all people, talk about getting a good workout?"

With a smirk, Arlan grabbed the wet ball and flung it at Tidus, who, much to Arlan's dismay, caught it with ease. "Lay off," Arlan whined. "I say what I want, and you get over it. Is that all right... Shadow boy?"

"Now, boys," Teyron cut in, taking a shot at imitating Auron. "This is a public place. Take your love affairs some- Ow!" Teyron flinched as Tidus smacked him with his sopping wet towel. "Dude! What was that for?"

Tidus ignored him. After putting up with that kind of crap from his friends for such a long time, as harmless as their words and jokes were, Tidus was really getting tired of it. Maybe he was just angry. Angry that his friends were lucky enough to have something he didn't: real parents. Sure, Auron was good to him and everything, but Tidus couldn't help longing for the warmth of a real home and family.

It's all his fault, he told himself as he dressed. It's Jecht's fault all this happened to me. If that bastard hadn't left us... Mom would still be here, and I... I'd have a real family...

"Hey, Tidus! Hellooo?" Arlan waved a hand in front of his friend's face. "Hey, snap out of it, man. We're going to the Center."

0 - + - 0 - + - 0

"Holy shit, that game was awesome!" Teyron said as Tidus unlocked his front door.

It was well past midnight, and Tidus did not want to end up with the responsibility of explaining to Auron why every neighbor within a fifty-foot radius was knocking on their door. The blond spun around as the door unlocked, clamping a hand over his friend's mouth. "Shut up, Teyron!" he said. "If you keep shouting like that, you're gonna wake up the whole freaking neighborhood! Is that what you want?"

Teyron raised a hand to swat Tidus' away. "You should talk!" he hissed back. "You're the one yelling at everyone!"

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you'd keep your mouth- Whoa!" Tidus was cut off mid-sentence as he fell through the door, his friends following suit. As he lay across the threshold of the house boat, his friend piled on top of him, he found himself staring up at Auron. "H-Hey, Auron..."

"I know I'm going to regret this," the older man sighed, leaning against the door frame as he stared down at the stammering teen. "But what are you doing?"

Arlan, who had fallen on top of Teyron and Tidus, squeezed his way out of the pile, taking a seat on Szera's back. "Oh, that's easy," he quipped with a grin. "See, right after we got out of the game, we passed by a specialty store that brought about an interesting discussion. So, we were just trying to decide what position Tidus would be best in during se-"

"Arlan!" Szera shrieked, throwing him off her back. As he hit the dock outside with a thud, Szera jumped up and seized him by the collar of his shirt. "Shut up!"

Before Tidus could react in a similar manner, Teyron quickly stood up and stepped out of Tidus' reach. "Well, I guess we should be going now," he said, moving to assist Szera in dragging Arlan away. "See ya later, Tidus!"

Red with embarrassment, Tidus brushed himself off and went inside, throwing himself down on the nearest couch. If Auron had understood Arlan's twisted humor, and there was no doubt in his mind that his guardian had, he was in for a lecture of some sort. Tidus glanced up, realizing that his guardian was going to say something.

"What was..." Auron hesitated for a moment. "Forget it," he said, dismissing the subject with a wave of his hand. "I don't even want to know."


	2. Day 2: Black Cat

Tidus awoke with a heavy yawn, rolling over to glance at his alarm clock. It was 5 am. Too damn early for anyone, except Auron, to be up and around. With a grunt, Tidus pulled the blankets over his head as the strong, overwhelming scent of coffee and alcohol hit him in the face.

"What the hell is he doing?" Tidus muttered bitterly. "It's freaking five o'clock, and the old man's already experimenting with everything. I swear, Auron never knew what coffee was until he showed up here."

With a sigh, Tidus rolled out of bed, and stormed into the kitchen. As the teen had expected, Auron was at the counter, hovering over some foul concoction of coffee, alcohol, and whatever the hell smelled an awful lot like fish. "Auron!"

"What?" the older man said without turning around.

Tidus rolled his eyes. It annoyed him to no end when people didn't look at him while he was talking, and Auron knew that. Crossing into the kitchen, Tidus stood on his toes to look over his guardian's shoulder. The foul-smelling mixture must have had a lot more in it than just coffee and alcohol, as the stench was even worse than it had been in Tidus' room. Taking a few steps back, Tidus ran to the back door and stuck his head outside, gathering as much clean air as possible before venturing back into the foul-smelling scent that had overcome the kitchen.

"Geez, Auron!" Tidus whined, waving a hand in front of his face. "What the hell are you doing making shit like that? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Not exactly," Auron muttered without turning around. "But it's a tempting notion."

Tidus glowered at his guardian's back. So, Auron had made a joke of sorts. Joy. But that still didn't explain why he was playing "chemist" with random amounts of drinkable fluid. With a sigh, Tidus turned and headed back to his room.

"Just forget it!" he said, loud enough for Auron to hear. "I'm going back to bed!"

"Does that mean you're skipping out on practice? I thought you wanted to get up early."

Tidus stopped dead in his tracks, and walked backwards into the kitchen. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Whoa, hold up," he said. "Are you saying that you mixed up this foul shit just to wake me up?"

Auron sidestepped the teen, and walked into the living room where he took a seat on the couch. "Well, I never said I didn't, now did I?"

"Damn you, old man!" Tidus sprinted down the hall to his room, shoved his gear into his duffel bag, and sprinted out the door without another word. Unknown to Tidus, he had certainly provided his guardian with quite an entertaining start to the day.

0 - + - 0 - + - 0

When Tidus arrived at the docks, his friends were already there, waiting for him to show up. "Wow, Tidus," Arlan snickered. "It's a new record, guys. Forty-eight minutes late. Congratulations, ya slacker! You even beat Teyron's record!"

"Shove it, Arlan," Tidus shot back, kicking the blitzball at his friend's head.

Szera sighed, stepping between Arlan and Tidus before they could begin their crotch-kicking contest of "manliness," as they called it. "Now boys," Szera said, commanding attention as if she were the mother of three stupid ducklings, "let's make one thing perfectly clear, shall we? I am not in the mood for any of your shit today. So, let's just get this the hell over with so I can get on with my fucking life, okay?"

As Szera seized the ball from Arlan, Teyron leaned on Tidus' shoulder. "You don't wanna know what's wrong with her, man," he said. "I dunno what the fuck her issue is, but I'm betting my money that she's got some severe PMS or something. So, just lay off. Otherwise, you won't be in possession of any means of reproduction."

"Eat this, bitches!" Szera shouted, back flipping to kick the ball to Arlan. "What now?"

Tidus laughed, having intercepted the Szera's pass to Arlan. "Did you guys hear about the Black Cat? I heard they all got nailed for trying to enter the Todd Club the other night. Man, are they dumb bitches or what?"

The others nodded. The Black Cat was the worst group of juvenile delinquents on the east side of Zanarkand. The only thing that made them scarier than that, was the fact that they were all psychotic girls with a bad reputation for attempted murder, among other things. Szera and named the group of girls "Black Cat" due to the fact that they brought anyone near them horrible luck.

"Damn. Why can't the cops just put those bitches in the slammer where they fucking belong?"

Tidus scowled and nodded in agreement with Szera's statement. The girls really did belong behind bars, but they wouldn't be caught anytime soon. They never were, no matter what hell they caused for people. But Tidus really couldn't blame the cops for not going after The Black Cat. They were complete lunatics, after all, and there weren't many people he knew around town who could actually stand them, let alone be near them. And the weird thing was that Auron was only person he could think of who wouldn't be bothered by the lunatic girls.

Arlan snickered. "Aw, come on, Szera. You know as well as I do that the authorities don't have enough evidence on them."

"Don't look now, guys," Teyron muttered, blocking Arlan's attempt to kick to him in the face, "but here come the unlucky bitches themselves."

Sure enough, the Black Cat came strolling down the docks, in all their psychotic "glory", towards Tidus and his friends.

The girl in front, Lilly, stepped forward, glowering at Tidus from beneath her dyed hair. "Hey, pussies," she sneered, throwing the finger at them. Playing your queer little ball game, are we?" Tidus flinched as she spoke. It was damn clear that the burn of her Black Cat symbol in the side of her face was fresh, as were numerous lip piercings that clicked against her teeth as she spoke. "Or is this just another one of your excuses to get away and have a good fuck?"

The more the girl talked, the more Tidus found himself wanting to plow her in the face. Lilly wasn't even slightly attractive, and only seemed to destroy what face she had left with all the crap she carved herself up with. He didn't understand why Lilly and her stupid friends couldn't just leave them alone. Whatever their reasons, it certainly didn't give them license to antagonize Tidus and his friends at every opportunity.

"Hey, bitch," Teyron snarled, stepping forward, "why don't you and your little cronies go play one of your twisted games in a back alley somewhere? It'd save you the pain and trouble of having your face ripped off. So get lost."

Lilly grinned as the other three girls behind her began to laugh. "It won't be much of a game without at least one guy player." She paused, glancing menacingly at Tidus. "What say you, Blondie? Wanna come with? We could really use a boy toy, after all."

Before Tidus could respond, Szera's fist lashed out, catching Lilly right in the nose. As the girl fell, a bright red stream of blood poured from her nose, causing her friends to shriek in horror. As Szera stood on the dock, seething, Teyron, Arlan, and Tidus could only stare in shock.

"What the hell was that about?" Arlan said with a laugh, throwing an arm around Szera's shoulders. "Looks like our girl here has a crush on dear old Tiddy! What do you say, Szera? Sound about right to you?"

Szera ducked out of Arlan's grasp, grabbing him by the shirt. "Say that again, and see what happens," she hissed. "I fucking dare you, Arlan."

"You psychotic bitch!" one of Lilly's friends, Dreanne, shrieked as she grabbed Szera by the hair. "I'm gonna beat your face into the ground!" True to her word, Dreanne threw Szera to the ground, face first, and proceeded to step on the back of her head. "Eat dirt, bitch!"

"Hey!" Tidus jumped into the fray, easily knocking Dreanne into the water with a well-placed shoulder tackle. The blond quickly pulled his friend to her feet, brushing the dirt from Dreanne's boots out of Szera's hair. "You okay?" he asked, as the rest of the Black Cat retreated.

She nodded, spitting dirt from her mouth. "Oh, yeah, Tidus," she said bitterly. "I'm fan-fucking-tastic, thanks for asking. I only got my face slammed into a dock, and my head stepped on by a psychotic bitch with combat boots. So, of course I'm fine!"

One thing was for sure: Szera was pissed beyond belief. One wrong move, and she'd tear Tidus' head clean off his shoulders.

As Dreanne emerged from the water, Teyron burst into hysteric laughter. "She looks like that evil chick that comes out of the TV in that movie!" he said, falling to his knees.

"Don't think this is over!" Dreanne shot back, shaking a wad of seaweed from her hair. "You're not getting off the hook that easy! You hear me?"

Arlan rolled his eyes as he picked up the blitzball. "Yeah, yeah. We hear you, Wacko," he said, tossing the ball from hand to hand. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll get the hell out of here before I use you for my target practice."

Dreanne gasped and took off in the direction her friends had gone, leaving a wet trail behind.

"Come on," Tidus said, throwing a towel around Szera as Arlan and Teyron gathered up their things. "We should probably get you home so you can change."


	3. Day 3: Kahra

Tidus and his friends were scattered around the docks, practicing for the third time that week. The blitzball flying between the members of the small group as the tight-knit friends made conversation. Tidus, however, was completely out of it. The star player of the Zanarkand Abes was constantly missing the ball each time it came his way, and was forced to retrieve the stray object each time it flew past him.

"What's with you today, T?" Arlan asked, taking a swig from his water bottle. "You're completely out of the loop!"

The blond shrugged and kicked the ball to Szera, who caught it with ease. "I dunno," he lied. "Just tired, I guess."

But Tidus was far from tired. His mind was simply fixated on the party he would be attending later that night. A party that all the best blitz players in the city would be at. And it would be at said party that he might have a shot at talking a certain someone into going on a date with him. Assuming, of course, that Arlan and Teyron didn't screw things up for him, the way they usually did. And all of this led right back to his little white lie.

"You're full of shit," Teyron piped up, running across the dock and giving Tidus a shove. "You're just lookin' to get in good with Kahra, aren't you?"

Szera's eyes widened as she stared at Tidus, who promptly began to blush. "What?"

"What the hell, Tidus?" Szera shrieked, grabbing him by the shirt. "You were gonna ask my cousin out without so much as telling me? You're a jerk!"

Tidus's blush reddened at every word Szera said. He sighed and hung his head as she continued berating him about not telling her about his plans. Although Tidus would never admit it, he'd been trying to gather up the courage to ask Kahra out since the sixth grade. And each attempt he had made over the past six years to so much as speak to her had ended in an utterly humiliating failure.

His desire to go out with Karha had nothing to do with her social status in school. Not by a long shot. She was just... different than all the other prissy preps that lined the halls each morning. Much like Tidus himself, she was on one of the local blitzball teams, and frequently brought a blitzball to school to practice with during their gym class. And all the while, Tidus would sit and stare at her. At least until she turned around or his friends decided to butt in and drag him away.

The blond grinned as he thought about her. He liked how she was her own person. Never letting anyone else tell her who and how to be. He liked the way her short brown hair fell over her forehead, and the way she gave the preps a hard time about being so shallow and self-centered. Sure, she was a half foot shorter than him, but that didn't matter to Tidus in the slightest. He just wanted a chance to know her the way Szera did. And, hopefully, get a date or two.

"Tidus! Did you hear what I just said?" Szera barked, shaking him as she grabbed his shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The blond sighed, waving his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly, hoping to avoid being pummeled. "I just didn't want to freak you out, or have you telling me crap like 'You've got no chance,' or 'She's not gonna go for it,' or 'Don't you fucking dare!'"

The redhead rolled her eyes, shoving the blitzball into Tidus's chest. "Well, you read my mind," she said with a smirk. "I would've said all of that to keep you from asking Kahra out. But, since you're so set on rejection, I guess I'll let you learn the hard way."

"You're totally out of your league, man," Teyron laughed, slapping Tidus on the back as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "Trust me. I asked Kahra out back in junior high, and you know what she did? She fucking slugged me."

Arlan laughed, flipping onto his hands. "As I recall, she slugged you because you called her a bitch after she turned you down."

"I remember hearing about that," Szera snickered as she gathered up her gear. "Kahra told me that she'd sooner loose an arm than go out with you. Especially after what you said to her. And thanks for reminding me." The redhead grinned, taking the ball from Tidus and kicking it at Teyron's head. "I still have to beat your ass for that."

Teyron feigned fear, hiding behind Tidus. "Ooh! I'm so scared!" he laughed.

Szera rolled her eyes and threw the finger at him before focusing her attention on Tidus once again. "T, you'd better be careful what you say to my cousin," she warned. "As you know, she's quite the tomboy. And if you say something completely stupid the way Teyron did, I can guarantee that she'll go out of her way to publicly humiliate you."

Tidus sighed, shoving Teyron away. "Thanks for the help, guys," he muttered sarcastically as he slung his blitz bag over his shoulder. "All this talk of getting slugged and rejected makes me feel so much better. I'll see you later."

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

When Tidus arrived home at seven that evening, he was completely wiped out from several long hours of blitzball practice with the Abes. The teen dumped his bag on the couch and headed straight to his room, not even bothering to check and see if Auron was home. He didn't want to see or talk to anybody about anything. Especially not dating or Kahra. It would just make him feel worse, if he did. The blond walked into his room, closing the door before he flopped onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh. At the rate things were going, he was seriously considering skipping out on the party just to avoid the ridicule his friends would give him, as well as the possibility of being turned down by Kahra.

The teen groaned, rolling over to grab the sphere remote. "Maybe watching blitz will take my mind off of things," he told himself, switching the sphere on.

Tidus quietly watched the East Side game for well over two hours, not bothering to once glance at the clock for the time. Besides, the party was going to happen with or without him. His friends, and Kahra, would go to the party and enjoy themselves. And Tidus would sit at home watching blitzball or some science fiction movie while Auron read the newspaper, or did whatever it was that he did on a Tuesday night.

Finally giving in, Tidus turned his head slightly to catch a glance at his alarm clock. It was already about nine-thirty. Tidus rolled over, lying on his stomach and burying his face deep within the soft confines of his pillow. The party would be starting at any minute now, and there was nothing he could think of that would entice him to go. After a few minutes, the teen began dozing off, only to be awakened by a loud knock on his door.

"What the hell do you want?" he grumbled, rolling over to face the door. "I don't wanna talk about it!"

The door opened to reveal Auron, who was holding the phone. "Someone wants to talk to you," the man said, tossing the phone onto the teen's bed.

Tidus grimaced, staring at his guardian as he grabbed the phone with a snort. Quite frankly, he didn't want to talk to anybody. But he reluctantly pressed the phone to his ear, wondering all the while why the hell Auron was still standing there watching him. "Hello?"

"Hey, T." Szera's voice came through the receiver, and Tidus rolled his eyes. "I just thought I'd check up on you."

_Yeah, right,_ Tidus thought. _You're just calling to beg me to come to that stupid party._

"Bullshit," he replied, ignoring Auron's glance. "You didn't call to 'check up' on me. You're just trying to get me to show up at that fucking party. Well, forget it, Szera. I'm not going." With that said, Tidus promptly turned the phone off. "What're you looking at?" he demanded, glancing at Auron.

His guardian merely shrugged. "That's what I was wondering," he said calmly. "I had no idea you still had such a temper. I thought you'd have gotten over it by now."

Tidus groaned and hopped off the bed, pushing past Auron as he headed to the kitchen to set the phone back on the counter. Heavy footsteps indicated that Auron was following him, but Tidus was too upset to give a damn. The teen turned to the refrigerator and grabbed a soda before heading around the counter to the front room where he planted himself firmly on the couch in front of the sphere. He popped the can open and took a drink, perfectly content to remain silent.

"Something's wrong with you," Auron said, blocking the teen's view of the sphere.

Tidus groaned loudly, placing his soda can on the floor before rolling over on the couch, his back facing Auron. "Gee, thanks for noticing," he muttered. "It sure as hell takes a real genius like you to figure out that I'm pissed off. So, congratulations. You're officially in the same league as Sherlock-fucking-Holmes."

"Does this, by any chance, have something to do with that Kahra you're always talking about?"

Blue eyes widened as Tidus rolled off the couch, crushing the soda can with his body. "What the hell?" he shouted, jumping to his feet. The teen's eyes were wild as he grabbed his guardian by the shoulders, pushing him into the wall. "How the hell do you know that?"

Auron shrugged, pushing Tidus away with little effort. "Let's just say that you're not too discreet with your secrets," the man replied, taking a seat in the chair by the window. "Then again, you never have been good at keeping things to yourself."

"Why the hell do you always do this?" Tidus demanded, pacing about the room. "Can't you ever just come right out and say something without turning it into some fucked up riddle?"

"You're too loud," Auron said simply. "You sit out here with your friends and talk loud enough for me to hear you from outside. A fault that's entirely your own."

Tidus's jaw dropped and he smacked himself in the face. "Dammit!" he shouted. "And you're telling me this now? Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner? What's wrong with you?"

"I could ask you the same, but the answer's obvious."

Before Tidus could start screaming and pulling his hair out, a knock came from the front door, cutting off his tirade. "Who is it?" he shouted, not bothering to open the door.

"Yo, Tidus!" Arlan said from outside. "Open up! There's someone here who wants to see you!"

Tidus turned to Auron. "What now?"

Auron smirked and stood up. "This is your problem," he said, retreating towards the back door. "But, for starters, you should probably open the door."

The blond sighed and reluctantly approached the front door. He glanced out the window and saw only Teyron and Arlan. "You guys are full of shit!" he said, opening the door. "There's no one else here!"

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," Teyron laughed. "We just didn't know how else to get you to open the door."

Arlan grinned sheepishly and peered around Tidus. "Hey, where's your shadow?" he asked suspiciously, glancing around the room. "He's not spying on us, is he? 'Cause that'd be fucking weird."

"No, dumbass," Tidus replied, shoving his friends out the door as he locked it. "He went out the back door. Now, if you two are done being idiots, let's the hell out of here."

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

The three boys ran full speed to the Dome, the largest teen rec center in Zanarkand, quickly presenting their tickets to the bouncers before bounding through the doors. The instant the boys waltzed inside, they were met with a loud cheer, the sounds of loud music and clinking bottles, and a flash of vibrant ceiling lights and glow sticks. Tidus slapped his friends on the back with a laugh, pleased that he'd decided to tag along after all.

A loud scream rang through the room as Tidus approached the refreshment table, and a joyful blond girl bounded up to him, jumping up on his shoulders. Clearly, she was another die-hard fan of the Zanarkand Abes. Or, to be more precise, the star _player_ of the Zanarkand Abes. The girl screamed in Tidus' ear, nearly causing him to tumble backwards into a large group of people with drinks. He yelped as she began smothering him with kisses.

"Check it out!" someone yelled, grabbing the attention of several party goers. "T's got a girlfriend!"

Several people, who were close enough to bear witness to the incident, began laughing. The predicament in which Tidus found himself was anything but funny. The teen flushed a bright red, nearly the same shade as his silent guardian's massive coat, as he continued to constantly bump into people as he tried to pry the squealing female off of his back. But she refused to relinquish her prey. The girl clung to him like a mousetrap, refusing to release the screaming creature that was Tidus.

Her arms abruptly tightened around Tidus' neck, cutting off his air in an instant. The already wobbling teen began gasping for breath, doubling over as the girl on his back squeezed him tighter with each passing second. He fell to the ground with a thud, his blue eyes rolling up into his head as he neared the darkness that he recognized as unconsciousness.

A multitude of loud shouts, like that of the roaring ocean currents, reached his ears as he felt himself slipping into the void. The whites of his eyes were surely visible now, like the pale surface of the full moon on a dark night. The sound of his own choking frightened him immensely, and he found himself welcoming the dark embrace that stretched towards him, hideous fingers motioning him towards the blackness.

Tidus gasped, sucking in large amounts of air as Teyron, Arlan, and the burly bouncer from the door managed to tear the girl from the blitz star's body. The girl's screams could be heard as Teyron and Arlan heaved Tidus to his feet as the bouncer dragged the deranged fan away. The blond heaved again, as he tried to compose himself. So far, the party had been horrid. If things continued like this, Tidus guessed that his body would end up being delivered to Auron by morning.

With his friends at his side to steady him, Tidus headed towards the refreshment table, eager to get some substance into his body to settle his stomach before he started heaving. As Tidus hurriedly drained a bottle of water, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned, expecting to see someone, or something, that would lift his spirits. Instead, he felt his stomach and jaw drop along with the water bottle that had been in his hand.

"Are you okay?" Kahra had seen everything, and had come to check up on him, despite the fact that her group of friends had been laughing loudly at Tidus' misfortune.

He nodded slowly, not wanting to speak out of fear of looking like more of a fool.

She smiled and began speaking to him. But Tidus was unable to hear her words, for he was far too caught up in the idea that she had actually been concerned about him. He sighed heavily as he stared into Kahra's green eyes, instantly forgetting that Arlan and Teyron were still with him. His friends would probably give him hell if they ever learned what he was thinking: Kahra's eyes, it seemed, were the same deep shade of green that was seen for an instant in the sky at sunset each evening.

His gaze darted to her lips: soft, perfect, and colored a naturally light shade of rose. Tidus' breath caught in his throat as he stared, utterly oblivious to the rest of the world. It was as if he and Kahra were the only two people in existence. As if everyone else had simply dropped off the face of the planet just to give the rising blitz star some privacy with the girl of his happiest, wildest dreams. A bright smile crossed his youthful face, and a deluge of warmth and happiness flooded through is veins.

"Tidus?" Her smooth voice snapped him out of his mental fit of ecstasy. He grinned sheepishly, hoping that she wouldn't be able to decipher the reason behind his constant staring. Kahra stared at him, her eyes clearly trying to make sense of his fit of silence. "Are you feeling all right?"

The blond nodded furiously, trying not to appear too suspicious. "Yeah," he said quickly. "Just fine."

The gears within the teen's mind began whirring furiously as he tried to come up with a plan to keep Kahra's attention focused on him. If everything went well, then Auron would have to sit through his lengthy explanation of why everything was suddenly right in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kahra: pronounced "Carah"  
> Arlan: pronounced "Arlyn"  
> Szera: pronounced "Zera"  
> Teyron: pronounced "Terran"
> 
> Teyron, Arlan, Szera, Kahra, and any other original characters in this story belong to me.


	4. Day 4: Trouble

Blue eyes peeked through the large window, searching the darkened front room for any sign of Auron before nervous hands unlocked the front door. Tidus leaned quietly against the door frame, pulling off his boots before entering the house. He turned and eased the door shut so as to not awaken his guardian. From the looks of things, Auron had long-since retired to bed. The teen mutely crept across the room towards the kitchen. He glanced at the clock on the wall as he placed a hand on the handle of the refrigerator door: 2:00 AM.

A smug grin crossed his face. There was no way Auron would still be awake, which saved Tidus from having to talk about how the party had gone down. Namely the little episode with the rabid girl who had assaulted him. Personally, he'd rather torture his guardian later on with talk of how wonderful his life was now that he had managed to score a date with Kahra. But then again, perhaps not. Talk like that usually led to a lecture about not doing "anything too reckless."

He'd keep the previous night's events to himself, instead.

The teen's gloved hand yanked the refrigerator door open, causing the various glass bottles of sauces and condiments to rattle against each other. Tidus clamped his eyes shut, fearing that Auron would abruptly appear behind him with a disapproving look in his eye. The giddy teen turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alone. He reached into the refrigerator, yanking out a container that held the remains of the pizza he and his friends had ordered three nights earlier.

With the container and a can of soda firmly in hand, Tidus turned, kicking the refrigerator door shut out of habit. The door slam, med and Tidus flinched, mutely cursing himself for being so careless. Aside from the sound of the teen's own fearful breathing, not a sound could be heard in the house. Placing the pizza container on the counter, Tidus popped open the soda can as he smiled to himself, failing to notice the wave of carbonated liquid that fell to the floor. Not noticing the sticky feeling that now covered his hand, Tidus smirked to himself and headed for his room where he would enjoy his late-night snack before lulling himself to sleep with thoughts of his conversation with Kahra.

The teen waltzed happily into his room, dropping his boots into the closet before tossing the pizza container on the bed. He popped open the soda can and took a swig, relishing in the feeling of the bubbly liquid running down his throat. Deciding it would be more comfortable to enjoy his meal in his boxer, Tidus quickly undressed, throwing his clothes to the floor. He glanced over his shoulder as he nudged his shirt with a toe. Was Auron _really_ asleep?

Soda can still in hand, Tidus walked out of his room and down the hall towards the small flight of stairs that led down to the room that Auron had decided to occupy upon his arrival ten years earlier. The teen had always found comfort in the fact that his guardian had left his mother's room untouched. The knowledge that a part of his beloved mother was still present in the house gave Tidus a constant sense of peace.

As his foot hit the first step down, he stopped, turning back to peek into his mother's room. His hand touched the doorknob, almost as if it were something sacred. But in the teenager's mindset, his mother's room was sacred. It had been where she had taken her last breath of life, where she had murmured his bastard father's name before she begged Auron to take care of her son. The thought brought tears to the teen's eyes, and he turned away, deciding that he'd rather not disturb the peace within his mother's room.

He headed down the small flight of stairs and crept towards the door of his guardian's room. He grasped the doorknob quietly, turning it slowly as he pushed the door open a crack wide enough to see through. Tidus poked his head into the room, his eyes falling upon the sleeping form of his guardian. He glanced at the bedside table and spotted the dark glasses that Auron always wore. Tidus smirked to himself. For several years, he'd wondered if the glasses had stayed plastered to his guardian's face all the time. Apparently not.

A devious thought crossed the teenager's mind as he stared at the glasses. Just what would happen if Auron were to awaken to discover that the glasses had suddenly vanished. Deciding to try out his little experiment, Tidus stole into the room and approached the table. He laughed inwardly as his hand closed around the glasses. Something told him that this was a bad idea, but his desire to test the waters of Auron's patience won through.

Tidus closed the door quietly and retreated back up the stairs to his own room. He closed his bedroom door behind him, stashing Auron's glasses in his nightstand drawer before grabbing the remote to turn on the sphere, being sure to keep the volume low. The teen opened the pizza container and began to eat as his eyes were glued to the local sports station. He would have to eat quickly, he decided as he tore another piece off of the pizza. Blitzball practice against the Orettes would be starting in another six hours or so, and he would need all his strength to take them down.

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

The loud ringing of the alarm clock penetrated the dream world in which Tidus had been immersed. The teen rolled over, smacking the snooze button with a fist as he sat up and yawned. He rolled out of bed and trudged to the door, not bothering to look at the clock. Sleep still evident in his eyes, Tidus wandered out into the front room where Auron sat on the couch, glowering at the teen with that eagle-like gaze of his.

With a loud yawn, Tidus glanced sleepily at his guardian. Something was different about the man today. But what? Slowly, Tidus realized that his guardian wasn't wearing his trademark red coat or the collar that usually obscured his face. But something was still off. Tidus shrugged and headed straight for the refrigerator, deciding that a little food in his gut would get his mind working properly. The sleepy blond began rummaging through the contents of the refrigerator, tossing a bag of bagels and a carton of orange juice onto the counter.

He turned and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, setting it on the counter beside the juice. Feeling like he was being watched, Tidus glanced up, noting that Auron was still glowering at him. The teen frowned slightly, trying to figure out what his guardian's issue was. He shrugged yet again as he tore into the bagels, taking a large bite out of one before shoving the rest of them back into the cold confines of the refrigerator.

Forgetting completely about his juice, Tidus trudged around the kitchen bar and into the front room where he plopped down on the couch on the opposite side of the room from Auron. Tidus chewed his bagel absentmindedly, little crumbs falling onto his chest every so often. Slowly, his eyelids began to drop again, as his mind went blank. A low growl and the sound of heavy footsteps yanked the teen back to alertness. His eyes popped open when Auron's hands grabbed him by the shoulders, lifting him right off the couch with ease.

"What the hell?" Tidus said, trying to wriggle out of his guardian's grasp. "What's your deal, Auron?"

Without so much as a word, Auron dragged the teen into the bedroom before sending him to the floor. Tidus stared up at the older man in shock. What the hell was his problem? But as Tidus studied the bitter look on his guardian's face, everything came flooding back. He'd snuck into Auron's room at 2:00 AM and swiped the man's glasses. Tidus's eyes widened with fear as he looked up at his guardian. Auron had his arms folded over his chest as usual, but the look in his eye was anything but friendly.

Deciding that it would be in his best interest to return the glasses, Tidus scooted over to his nightstand and opened the top drawer, keeping his eyes on Auron the entire time. His hand rummaged through the contents of the drawer, finally coming to rest on the cold metal frames of the glasses. Quickly, Tidus pulled them out, tossing them to his guardian and praying that he wouldn't end up like the fiends that Auron hunted throughout the city.

"Next time you do this," Auron said as he put the glasses in their rightful place, "I won't be so nice about it."

Tidus opened his mouth to retort, but Auron had already left the room. The teen got to his feet, determined to give his guardian a piece of his mind. He stormed out of his room to find Auron brewing up that foul concoction of alcohol and coffee. The bitter scent made Tidus grimace, and he covered his nose with a hand to spare himself from the torture. As he approached his guardian, he realized that Auron was humming that familiar tune that Tidus had, unfortunately, picked up from his old man.

The teen rolled his eyes, wondering if Auron had picked it up from Jecht as well. But that was irrelevant at the moment. Tidus had a bone to pick with Auron, and he wouldn't be distracted. He tapped his guardian on the shoulder, holding his breath as the alcohol/coffee scent smacked him in the face again.

"What?" Auron said without turning.

Tidus let out an exasperated sigh. He _hated_ it when Auron didn't look at him while he was talking. It was just annoying. Realizing that Auron wasn't going to cooperate, Tidus waltzed down the hallway, down the small flight of stairs, and right into Auron's room. The teen looked around, trying to find something to hold hostage until his guardian cooperated willingly. His eyes darted to the massive blade that sat propped up against the wall. But that wouldn't do. The sword probably weighed about as much as Tidus did, if not more.

His eyes wandered, landing squarely on the large ceramic sake jug that Auron carried around on his belt. A devious grin crossed Tidus's face as he grabbed it, tucking the thing under his arm. He darted out of the room and back to the kitchen where he stood smugly behind his guardian. The blond raised the jug and shook it, listening to the swishing of the liquid inside. Auron immediately dropped what he was doing and spun around, clearly surprised to see Tidus with yet something else of his.

The older man sighed and stared at the teen. "What are you doing?" he said, raising an eyebrow at Tidus as if he were eight again.

"What's it look like?" Tidus shot back as he backed towards the front door.

Auron took a step forward, his boot hitting something sticky. He glanced to the floor, taking note of the now dried puddle of soda. The man glanced over his glasses at Tidus as he pointed to the floor. "Clean it up," he said flatly. "Now."

Tidus sighed, bitterly acknowledging that he'd screwed up. He rolled his eyes, tossing the ceramic jug to Auron, who caught it easily. The teen wandered into the laundry room and returned with a rag that he soaked in the kitchen sink before getting to work on the sticky, yet practically invisible, puddle of soda pop.

"And just so we're clear," Auron said, taking a seat on the couch, "you're not leaving this house until you're finished there. So don't even think about skipping out."

The blond sighed as he mopped up the mess, stopping only to mutter a single word under his breath: "Bastard."

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

"Yo, T! What the hell took you so long?" Teyron shouted from the opposite side of the locker room as he yanked on his team uniform. "Coach thought you'd ditched us."

Tidus sauntered in, dropping his duffel bag onto one of the benches as his teammates surrounded him and slapped him on the back. He smiled, glad that he had been able to make it to the practice game after all. Fortunately, he'd been smarter than Auron had expected. The teen had taken a few minutes to wipe up the mess before crawling into his room to get dressed and grab his things. Only then did he sneak out the back door and run down the docks towards the practice stadium.

Several loud voices echoed throughout the locker room, making their way out into the sidelines of the sphere pool where their coach, Jaris, stood. At the mention of the star player's name, Coach Jaris rushed into the locker room with wide eyes, earning the amused laughs of several of the players.

"Oh, God!" the man shouted, grabbing Tidus in a bone-crushing, one-armed hug. "I thought you'd skipped out on us, boy! What took you so long, eh?"

Tidus' face turned pale as his teammates gathered around to listen in. He sighed and opened his mouth. "Er... Auron wouldn't let me leave until I cleaned up the kitchen," he said sourly, avoiding the gazes of his teammates. Teyron and Arlan in particular.

Arlan's face lit up at Tidus' words. "Ohhhh!" he laughed, nudging the team's goalie playfully in the ribs. "Tiddy's guardian made him do chores!"

The group of boys roared with laughter as Tidus' spirits began to sink. _Goddammit,_ he mused, making a mental note to beat Arlan later. _You're gonna get it later, pal._

"All right, that's enough!" Coach Jaris shouted, giving Arlan a punch in the shoulder. "Next time you feel like complaining about your folks, you can expect to be the hind-end of the joke," the man said sternly, giving Arlan his eagle-eyed glare. "Now, shut up and get dressed! If you lot aren't out there in the next minute, you're gonna run laps! Now, get moving!"

The laughter immediately died down as the boys darted out into the sphere pool to await further instruction. The three girls on the team, including Szera, were leaning against the wall outside the girl's locker room when the yammering group of boys ran out in a hurry, running into each other as they tried to avoid falling into the sphere pool before Coach Jaris gave them the cue. The girls laughed, pointing at the boys and whispering to each other.

Szera stepped forward as Arlan stared into the sphere pool as the Orettes went through their drill. A devious grin crossed her face, and she turned to Tidus, her red ponytail swinging to the side. The blond nodded, deciding that watching Arlan fall into the sphere pool would be a bonus to the payback that he had planned for his friend. With a mighty shove from Szera, Arlan tumbled head-first into the sphere pool, earning his own mass of laughter from his teammates.

"What the hell are you doing?" Coach Jaris shouted, catching Szera red-handed. "What're you trying to say?! That you _want_ to run laps?! Is that it?!"

The redhead stifled a laugh as she tried to keep a straight face. "Sorry, Coach," she said, feigning sorrow. "It won't happen again."

Coach Jaris eyed her for a moment before turning to yank Arlan out of the pool. "Listen up!" he shouted. "If we lose here, the Duggles are out of our reach. I want the lot of you to get in there and play like this is the Jecht Cup! Understand? Now, move!"

A fit of giggles from behind him caught the star player's attention. "What the hell?" he muttered as Teyron and the other boys laughed.

Unable to respond without choking, Teyron pointed through the sphere pool towards the bleachers that sat opposite the locker room. Tidus followed his friend's finger, his eyes widening with shock and embarrassment.

_Oh, shit,_ he thought as his blue eyes came to rest upon the subject of interest. He sighed and hung his head. Auron had unexpectedly shown up. The only thing that made the situation even slightly humorous, was the fact that the man was surrounded by a group of young children who were clearly interested in him and the large blade that sat beside him.

"Didn't you boys hear me?" Coach Jaris bellowed. "_Move it!_"

The team abruptly leaped into the pool, swimming about and high-fiving one another as the Orettes ended their drill. Tidus swam around, taking his position at the front of the team. The whistle blew, and the blitzball shot up from the middle of the sphere pool. Tidus and the Orettes forward player shot up, grappling for the ball. Tidus managed to get a hand on it, only to earn a kick in the groin from his opponent. The whistle blew again as Tidus doubled over in the pool.

"Foul!" one of the coaches shouted from the box.

Tidus' vision began to fade as he felt himself being dragged out of the sphere pool. His blue eyes crossed and uncrossed as his fuzzy mind fought with the dizziness that had overcome him. As the ceiling of the practice arena came into focus, a sharp pain made itself known in his lower stomach. The teen grimaced as he felt himself being set down on the cold metal bleachers. So far, his day was shaping out to be horrid.

He closed his eyes, trying to think of a way to numb the stabbing pain. When his eyes opened again, he gasped as Auron stared down at him. "Oh, God," Tidus muttered.

"That's pleasant," Auron replied, a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Tidus grunted when he felt something hot and bitter course down his throat. He sat up and sputtered, "What the hell is that?"

Auron shoved him down with a grimace. "For the pain," he said, avoiding the question. "Just shut up and drink it."

Reluctantly, Tidus obeyed, and eventually felt the pain numb to a dull ache. His eyes crossed again and he felt himself sink into a deep sleep.

0 - + - 0 - + - 0

When Tidus opened his eyes again, he was lying on the couch at home, staring up at the ceiling. With a start, the teen shot upright and glanced around the house. Auron was nowhere in sight. His heart racing, Tidus began to explore the house, intent on finding out how the game had ended and how he had ended up at home.

"What are you doing?" Auron said from behind as Tidus entered the laundry room. "You're supposed to be resting."

Tidus scowled and turned, glowering at his guardian. "What the hell happened? What did you give me? How did the game end? Tell me, dammit!" Tidus shouted, grabbing his guardian by the coat.

The older man pushed Tidus away with ease before grabbing the boy's wrist and leading him back to the couch. "Down," he said simply, giving Tidus a shove. "And stay there."

"Make me!" Tidus shot back with defiance. "I'm not doing anything until you tell me what happened!"

Auron sighed and leaned against the wall. "You passed out," he said, starting with the teen's first question. "As for what I gave you..." Auron unhooked the ceramic jug that hung from his belt and tossed it to Tidus. "Sake. And, as expected, your team won. Naturally," he added.

Tidus sighed and fell back onto the couch, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. So the Abes had obliterated the Orettes after all. And that meant that they'd be going to the finals to play the Duggles from C-South in another three days.

"Three days..." Tidus said. "And then the Summer season ends..."

Auron scoffed, earning a glare from the displeased blond. "That's irrelevant," he said, staring blankly at the images on the sphere. "In three days, everything you know won't matter anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own Arlan, Teyron, Szera, Kahra, Coach Jaris, and the Orettes. All of the aforementioned are names/characters created by me. Therefore, they are owned by me.


	5. Day 5: Mother

When Tidus awoke the following afternoon, he couldn't help feeling nervous. Auron's words after the game the previous afternoon had kept him awake until 3 am, causing him to toss and turn in bed as he tried to contemplate the meaning behind his guardian's words.

_"That's irrelevant. In three days, everything you know won't matter anymore."_

Whatever the words meant, Tidus knew that it couldn't be a good thing. Tidus sighed, rolling out of bed with a sigh. He walked slowly out into the front room, ignoring his guardian's nonchalant gaze as he headed into the kitchen for some breakfast. Without much thought, Tidus grabbed a random box of cereal from the cupboard and whipped the orange juice out of the fridge. He turned, grabbing a clean bowl from the dishwasher and filled it up with the cereal before silently pouring the orange juice in.

"Strange," Auron muttered from the couch.

Tidus ignored him and took a seat at the kitchen bar, blankly staring out the window as he ate. At this point, nothing Auron said could faze him. For that had already been accomplished. Tidus sighed and let the spoon fall from his mouth. It bounced off the counter top and hit the floor with a metallic sound that rang in his ears. He shut his eyes and slumped over, his chin resting in his bowl of orange juice and wheat cereal.

He breathed slowly, still trying to work Auron's puzzle out in his head. But nothing he came up with made any sense. His first thought had been that Auron might be hinting at something reckless. But when he thought about it seriously, something like that would be far too uncharacteristic for a stoic man such as Auron. And everything else he came up with was completely, and utterly stupid. So stupid, in fact, that Tidus hated himself for coming up with such things.

"Something's wrong," Auron said, staring at the teen through his dark glasses.

Tidus merely sat up and nodded. "Yeah," he said, not bothering to make some mouthy remark. He was tired and confused. And trying to pick a fight with Auron wouldn't solve his problem. Nor would it answer his questions. "What did you mean yesterday when you said that nothing would matter anymore?"

The blond watched quietly as Auron dropped the newspaper to the floor. "I meant just that," he said, crossing his arms. "On the day of the tournament, life as you know it will change."

"But why?" Tidus stood up, his hands balled into tight fists. "Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you have been chosen. That is why."

Tidus threw his hands up and rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense!" he shouted, climbing over the counter. "I don't care that I've been chosen! I just want to know why! Who the hell chose me and why? That's all I want to know!"

Auron smirked. "I suppose I could tell you. But, knowing you, you wouldn't believe a word of it. Not yet."

The teen roared and slammed a fist on the counter. Nothing made sense anymore. From the day Auron had shown up in Zanarkand, nothing had been the same. Tidus had lost his mother, and fiends from the sea had started appearing out of nowhere. Fiends that Auron had often tracked down for days at a time, only to corner and obliterate. Tidus had lived a life full of mystery for ten long years. And now he wanted answers. He wanted the truth.

"You should probably get some work done," Auron suggested, turning his attention to the book that sat beside him.

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Why don't you do it?" he shot back. "You're the adult here."

"First of all, I'm not your maid," Auron said, pointedly. "And I'm not your mother, either. So, if you want laundry done, you're doing it yourself. I would think that ten years of the same routine would have taught you a little independence."

Tidus bit his lip, drawing blood. He _hated_ it when Auron brought his mother into their conversations. The blond scowled and sped down the hall to his mother's room where he locked himself inside. He sat quietly on her bed, willing himself not to cry. His eyes closed as he thought back on her last few minutes of life, and the words that would forever be engraved upon his heart.

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

_"Mama," seven-year-old Tidus whispered, clasping his mother's hand in his own. "Mama, please... please, don't leave me!"_

_His mother sighed, the look in her blue eyes telling her young son that she was far too close to death. "I'm sorry," she told him, squeezing his small hand. "I'm sorry, love. Promise me something, please. Promise me that you'll be a good boy. That you'll do everything you're told when I'm gone."_

_Tidus shook his head, small tears appearing at the corners of his sky-blue eyes. "No, Mama!" he shouted. "You're not going to die! You're going to get better! You'll see, Mama!"_

_"No, sweetheart," she said, stroking his face. "No..."_

_The little blond boy continued to shake his head, ignoring the headache that had started to form at the base of his skull. He couldn't... wouldn't let his beloved mother die. It was far too soon for her to leave him all alone in the world. The dam collapsed, and a flood of tears ran down the child's face, falling steadily to the floor as they rolled off his chin. He held her hand tighter, looking away from her weary face only to glance outside at the sky._

_Gray, as far as his eyes could see. Gray clouds... and a high chance of cold rain._

_"You can't die!" he shouted, causing his mother to flinch. "Don't you leave me, Mama! Please..." he collapsed at the side of her bed, squeezing her hand as tightly as he could, "please, don't leave me here... I need you..."_

_The sound of his mother's bedroom door opening reached his ears, and Tidus scowled. He clamped his eyes shut, willing himself not to look at the man his father, Jecht, had sent to take care of them. Tidus felt his breath shake. The man had only been with them for a few weeks, and now... now his mother was dying._

_A light snore startled Tidus. He glanced up to find that his mother had fallen asleep. He sighed, a light smile on his young face. At least she was only asleep. Not gone, but asleep. He placed a hand above her face, sighing with relief when he felt her steady breathing upon his little palm. He released her hand, tucking it gently under the sheets as he took the washcloth from her forehead. Without a word, Tidus ran quietly down the hall to the bathroom and dumped the cloth in the sink to soak in the cold water._

_As soon as the cloth was cold again, Tidus rushed back to the room, placing the cloth gently upon his mother's forehead. "Hang in there, Mama," he whispered, planting a gentle kiss upon her warm cheek. "I love you."_

_Tidus turned, noting Auron's solemn gaze upon him as he walked out of the room. The child frowned to himself. If his mother died, he would never forgive Jecht for leaving them. He headed for the front door, not bothering to put on his shoes as he stepped out onto the dock. In a burst of speed, Tidus rushed down the docks, heading for the one furthest from the house. The dock where his mother had taught him how to fish when he was only three._

_He sat down, dangling his little feet into the cool waters. The tide was high, which saved him the trouble of having to hang off the dock just to get his feet wet. Tidus kicked his feet slowly, making little waves and bubbles in the water. He stared out across the calm, blue waters. Even far out at sea, the sky was gray, and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was here that Jecht had gone out to sea to train. And it was here that his mother waited for him every day at sundown._

_But he never returned._

_"I hate you," Tidus muttered, Jecht's face appearing in the water at his feet. The boy stood up, staring down at Jecht's image with malice. "Do you know what you've done?" he shouted. "Because of you, Mom's going to die! You caused all this! You left us, just so you could have another reason to brag about how 'great' you are! I hate you, you bastard! I hate you!"_

_With a burst of energy Tidus leaped into the water, causing the image of his father to vanish. He slapped his little fists against the surface of the water, imagining that he was, in fact, punishing Jecht for all the suffering he'd caused._

_When his energy ran out, young Tidus walked further into the water, failing to notice that it soon came up to his neck. He narrowed his gaze at the horizon. "If Mom weren't sick... Then I wouldn't want you to come back. But... you're the only thing that she thinks will make her better. She keeps asking for you," he muttered. "And she cries herself to sleep when we tell her that you're still gone. You stupid bastard... I hate you... I hate you so much..."_

_Tidus gasped when he felt himself being lifted out of the water and onto the dock. He whirled around to find Auron crouched beside him, staring into the water. "You shouldn't say things like that," he said quietly. "Your mother wouldn't like it."_

_The boy grimaced. "What the hell do you know?" he shot back, giving Auron a good kick. "You don't know anything about me! And you don't know anything about my mom, either! So don't act like you do! You don't even belong here!"_

_In a fit of tears, Tidus fell to his knees, hugging himself as his body shook with sobs. His mother couldn't die. She just couldn't. How would he survive without her? He was only seven; not nearly old enough to get a job or cook for himself. Surely, he would die alone without his beloved mother._

_Tidus whined as Auron picked him up. Although Tidus had only known Auron for a few weeks, he found comfort knowing that his father's friend cared. The boy hung his head over the man's shoulder, his tears making a trail along the docks as Auron carried him back to the house._

_"I'm sorry," Tidus whimpered as the door opened. "I didn't mean it... I just... How am I gonna live without her? What will I do if she dies?"_

_"Tidus..." his mother's weak cry reached the boy's ears from her room. "Tidus..."_

_The child's eyes widened, and he jumped out of Auron's arms, running down the hall to his mother's room. He fell to his knees at he bedside, clenching her hand in his own. "Mama," he whispered as the tears began to flow again. "What is it, Mama?"_

_She turned to look at him, pain evident in her soft blue eyes. "Promise me," she said, her face barely audible. Sweat coursed down her face, causing her red hair to stick. "Promise me you'll be good. Promise me..."_

_"I promise, Mama," he said. "I promise."_

_He watched as her gaze moved from him to the door. "Take care of him..." she whispered._

_Tidus turned in time to see Auron nod._

_Her gaze turned back to her young son. She placed a hand under his chin, her eyes beckoning him to come closer. He leaned close, and she planted a gentle kiss upon his cheek. "Be a good boy for me," she said. "And remember... I love you."_

_Tidus nodded, his little face scrunched up in sorrow. "I will, Mama. I will."_

_She sighed, staring at the ceiling. "I'm coming... Jecht... Forgive me... Tidus..." Finally, she fell silent._

_Tidus erupted in a fit of tears, crawling on top of his mother and bringing her arms around him. "Mama!" he cried. "Mama, come back! Please, please, come back! Mama!"_

_With her last breath, she had whispered the name of her son. The name of her sweet Tidus._

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

Tears coursed down Tidus' face as he stared at his mother's photo. "Come back," he mouthed, holding her image to his chest. "Come back..." Without another word, the teen rolled over in his mother's bed, placing her photo beside him as his eyes closed in sleep.


	6. Day 6: Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following chapter contains blood. If you can't stomach blood, then I suggest you just move to the bottom of the screen and read the end. The blood starts after the first break (0 - + - 0 - + - 0). Also note that the following chapter is full of suspense. Every good story has it, and this is where the suspense for "Countdown" is.

"Get up. You're already late," a voice said, snapping Tidus from his peaceful slumber.

Tidus rolled over in bed, pulling the pillow over his head. "Five more minutes," he muttered from beneath the soft object. He wasn't ready to wake up. Not yet. He wanted to further enjoy the sweet, quiet recesses of sleep. And he wasn't about to give in to the voice that told him to wake up. As he slowly drifted back to sleep, the sound of shouting disturbed him once again. The teenager rolled over again and groaned, trying not to listen to the clamor of voices that seemed to be coming from outside the room.

The shouting quieted down, and Tidus grinned slightly. Peace and quiet. But he could still hear the hushed whispers of "Make him hurry," "Get him up," and "We don't have time for this!" Time for what? He didn't know. Nor did he really care. He was too busy trying to return to the realm in which he had seen his mother through the night. The realm of dreams where she had comforted him and dried his tears. While he had been there, it had truly felt like she had never left the world.

Suddenly, the pillow was wrenched from his grasp, and Tidus felt himself being pulled to his feet by the wrist. "What?" he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "Go away!" He felt hands on the sides of his face and mistook them for his mother's. "Mom?"

But when he opened his eyes, he nearly screamed. Auron was staring at him, and Arlan, Teyron, and Szera were standing just outside the door. "Wake up," Auron said firmly, turning Tidus over to the mercy of his friends.

"What's wrong with you, man?" Arlan said, playing with the ends of his short white hair. "We've got places to go, things to do. Snap out of it already."

Tidus groaned, falling backwards into Auron. The man sighed and began pushing Tidus towards the bathroom. Oddly enough, Tidus thought he'd heard Auron say something to Szera about cold water. But it must have been his imagination. A flash of bright light hit him in the eyes, and the blond flinched backwards. Before he could open them again, he was smacked in the face with something cold and wet.

"Do what you want with him," he heard Auron say.

The sound of heavy footsteps vanished down the small flight of stairs to the left of the bathroom door. Tidus began sputtering as water went up his nose, and his friends began laughing. He opened his eyes sleepily and found himself staring into Arlan's face. His friend smiled and waved before shoving a toothbrush into Tidus' mouth. The teen gagged as the plastic object stuck him in the back of the throat. He coughed, accidentally spraying Arlan with toothpaste.

A loud laugh, probably Teyron's, reached his ears. A laugh that seemed to be coming from his bedroom. The sleep immediately left Tidus, and he rushed to his room, leaving Arlan behind to wipe the globs of toothpaste away from his face. When Tidus walked into his room, Szera and Teyron were there, fishing through Tidus' drawers. The two were laughing and making jokes about some of the things that Tidus could wear from time to time.

"What the hell?" Tidus bellowed, grabbing his clothes from his friends. "Can't I get any privacy?"

Teyron snickered, slapping Szera on the back. "You could," he said, "if you slept in your own room for once."

Blue eyes widened as Teyron's hazel eyes brightened beneath his dark brown hair. "But I slept in here, didn't I?" Tidus asked.

"That's not what I heard," Szera said, raising her eyebrows. "When we got here, Auron said that you'd locked yourself in your mom's room yesterday afternoon. He wouldn't tell us why, though. So, we figured it was none of our business."

"Correction," Teyron quipped. "Szera decided it was none of our business. "Arlan and I, however, _wanted_ to know why." He gave Szera a pouty glare.

Tidus silently made a mental note to thank Szera later for not prying. He ushered his friends out of his room and locked the door behind him, eager to get some privacy so he could get dressed. The blond quickly pulled on a pair of black shorts, with the usual Zanarkan Abes logo on it, and a bright orange t-shirt, emblazoned with the logo of a surfing company. He waltzed out of the room to find his friends waiting silently for him on the couch.

He raised his eyebrows. It was completely unusual for Arlan and Teyron to remain quiet like this even if it was for a few minutes. Tidus headed into the kitchen, yanking some sodas out of the refrigerator. He tossed them over the counter to his friends, who caught them with little trouble.

"So where'd Auron run off to?" he asked, popping open the can.

Arlan shrugged. "No clue," he said. "Last I saw him, he headed downstairs. I dunno where he went after that, since _someone_ decided it'd be nice to spit toothpaste in my eyes."

The others laughed.

"I saw him," Szera said with a sideways grin. "He walked right out the front door. Said something about tracking down a rampaging Kusariqqu or something along those lines. I don't remember exactly what he said he was going after."

Tidus shrugged. "It's nothing to worry about," he said, taking a seat in front of the sphere. "He's always running around like this. Whacking off heads, skinning Behemoths and the like. It's no big deal." With that, Tidus turned on the sphere and began to watch the game.

**0 - + - 0 - + - 0**

It was only when the clock struck ten that night that Tidus seriously began getting nervous. It wasn't exactly normal for Auron to be gone for ten straight hours, no matter what freakish creature he was hunting down. At the most, the man was usually gone for three hours or so. But ten was nearly four times that. And Tidus was starting to freak out.

"Dammit, old man," he muttered as Teyron popped in a movie. "You better not have done something stupid."

Arlan rolled his eyes as Teyron skipped past all the other movie previews on the disk. "What're you gonna do about it, Tidus?" he muttered, shoving popcorn into his mouth. "It's not like you're the adult or anything. Maybe something else came up. Maybe Auron ran across a whole clan of beasties. You never know, so just relax, okay? You're totally bumming me out."

Tidus nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

But regardless of what he said, Tidus didn't think it was true at all. He'd followed Auron on a hunt once when he was nine. Without the man's knowledge, of course. He'd followed Auron clear over to the west side of the city where a whole clan of Nidhogs had taken up root in the basement of a bar, frightening away all customers. Tidus had merely watched in awe as his guardian had disposed of the group of Nidhogs in under twenty minutes, regardless of their large stature and overwhelming number.

This, on the other hand, was entirely different. Even if it was something as dangerous as a Behemoth, as Szera had suggested hours earlier, Auron would be able to take it out without breaking a sweat. Unless, things got turned around. Ignoring his friends' protests, Tidus hurried to the window, staring out at the city. Horrid ideas flooded his head, and he struggled to think positive. What if something had happened? What the hell would he do by himself? He clenched his fists, thinking back on his mother's death.

Would things turn out _that_ way again?

Tidus heard his friends gasp as the back door opened. The blond whirled around to see Auron standing there, dark glasses pushed up to hide his good eye. Tidus glanced at the floor beneath his guardian's boots, taking note of the vile-looking black liquid that clung to them. Remains of his kill, no doubt. The teen found his mind wandering as he tired to guess what ungodly creature that massive blade had cut to pieces.

"Someone looks tired," Arlan chirped, shoving more popcorn into his mouth. "Betcha killed somethin' big, huh? Sure looks like it."

Tidus gave Arlan a good punch in the arm, having sensed that now wasn't a good time to be joking around with Auron. The blond's blue eyes narrowed a bit when he thought he spotted something seeping through the front of Auron's coat where his left arm rested.

"Something happen?"

Without so much as a word to the group of staring teenagers, the man quickly retreated down the hall to his room. The sound of the door closing could be heard from the front room, and Tidus collapsed on the couch with a sigh.

Tidus shrugged, assuming that it had only been his imagination. "Holy crap," he muttered, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Stupid bastard nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!"

Teyron lauged, poking Tidus in the head with the remote. "Relax already," he snickered. "You saw him. He's fine, okay? It's not like he came in with his hand torn off or anything. Get a grip."

Tidus scowled, staring at the ceiling. Clearly, Teyron was taking things the wrong way. He thought Tidus actually _cared._ Well, maybe he did. A little. After all, Auron didn't exactly _have_ to stay with him after his mother died. He could have just dumped Tidus at some orphanage and took off to live his own life. But he had stayed and treated Tidus better than Jecht had. And Tidus supposed that _that_ was why he gave a damn.

He rolled off the couch and headed into the kitchen, ignoring Arlan and Teyron's nasty remarks. Tidus wandered into the laundry room by the back door dispose of his soda can, only to slip and fall on something wet. Szera was at his side in an instant, pulling him to his feet.

"You okay?" she said, patting him on the back.

He nodded, chucking the can into the trash. "Yeah." Tidus rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell did I slip on anyway? Did one of you guys spill something and 'forget' to clean it up?" he hollered at Arlan and Teyron.

Szera remained silent, her green eyes wide and focused on the tile floor. "Look," she said, turning Tidus' head towards the spot on the floor.

"Oh, God..." Tidus stared wide-eyed at the substance that had caused him to slip. A pool of red and black sat on the floor, mingling together and glinting in the light overhead. And something told Tidus that it wasn't just fiends' blood staring up at him. "Oh, God!" Tidus took off down the hall, ignoring his friends' shouts. He jumped down the stairs and shoved open Auron's door without so much as a knock. Heart pounding in his chest, Tidus stared into the room, only to find it empty. Then it hit him.

_The bathroom._

Without even announcing his presence, Tidus crossed to the bathroom door of the room, crouching down to see if there was any light coming from the crack between the door and the floor. Crushing his belief, the light was off. Tidus scowled, reaching up to try the doorknob: Locked. His guardian was in there, all right. The teen turned, spotting Auron's coat, sword, and cowl in the corner. He crossed the room in three quick strides, inspecting every inch of the objects for blood. Of course, the blade was coated with the stuff. But that had probably been from sawing through the bodies of fiends. Not a spot was found on the cowl, and finding bloodstains on the coat proved to be harder than expected, seeing how the coat itself was a blood red color.

Tidus sighed and headed back into the hallway. He didn't need to find blood on the coat to know that Auron was injured. He ran to his bedroom and threw open his desk drawer, pulling out several screwdrivers. He poked his head out of his door, motioning for Szera, who already had the bathroom first aid kit in hand, to follow him. The two teens crept quietly down the hall, stopping only outside the bathroom door in Auron's room.

"Whatever happens, don't scream," Tidus whispered.

Szera nodded and rolled her eyes. "I'm a medical student, Tidus," she reminded him. "I've dealt with things worse than blood."

Tidus smirked and set to work on the doorknob. He quickly removed the two screws and pulled the doorknob off, failing to open the door in time to catch the other end of it that crashed to the floor with a metallic clank. The two flinched, fearing that they would be discovered and lectured about "respecting other people's privacy." After a few minutes of waiting, the two gently pushed open the door and crawled in. Their eyes widened in shock. Similar to the scene at the back door, there was blood on the floor, and even on the walls. But Auron had vanished.

Szera darted into the bathroom, and turned, pointing Tidus to the open window. "The window!" she hissed. "He went out the window!"

The teens ran out of the room and down the hall, stopping only by the front door. Tidus' heart pounded as he stared out the window, hoping that his guardian had gone to some extreme lengths to pull some elaborate prank on him and his friends. But it was unlikely. "Guys, go out the back door," he said, trying to sound calm.

"Why?" Arlan raised an eyebrow, refusing to look away from the gruesome movie that played on the sphere. "What the hell's going on?"

Szera walked up to him and slapped him across the face. "Don't ask questions, just do it, dumbass!"

Not wanting to get smacked, Teyron jumped off the couch and dragged Arlan out the back door as Tidus and Szera went out the front. Tidus' eyes scanned the right side of the docks outside the house while Szera's searched the left. Still no sign of Auron. Tidus tapped his friend on the shoulder, motioning for her to follow. The two crept up the stairs by the front door that led to the top of the roof. Even in the dark, they had enough light to see by. Light from the city and from the half moon that was being shielded by the silver clouds.

"Oh, shit," Tidus muttered when he caught sight of his guardian. The man was slumped silently against the mast of the house boat, his hand twitching slightly. Tidus slid across the wood, ignoring the fact that his knees would be bleeding later. "Szera, go get the others," he instructed.

Szera darted down the stairs to find Teyron and Arlan, leaving Tidus alone.

"Dammit," he hissed, clenching his fists. "You fucking idiot!"

The teenager had the sudden urge to strangle his guardian, but he knew that that wouldn't do any good. It would simply complicate things. Tidus sighed and rolled onto his stomach, smacking the wooden boards with a fist. It felt strange being the one scared half to death. Maybe, just maybe, this was how it had been when Auron had discovered that Tidus had followed him on the Nidhog hunt. A mass of guilt began weighing down on the teen.

_Why the hell am I such an idiot?_ he thought, bitterly cursing himself for always causing trouble. Tidus continued to pound the boards with a fist until his silent guardian moved. The blond gasped when Auron's hand closed on his wrist, keeping his hand from smacking the boards again.

"That's annoying," the man mutterd.

Tidus sat up, his eyes firmly set on Auron's bloodied hand. "You're stupid, old man," he hissed, fighting the urge to sock his guardian in the jaw. "You screwed up everything, you know?"

His remark was met with the man's trademark, "Hmph." The sound of indifference. Or annoyance. Take your pick. "You always had a habit of butting in," he added.

The sound of footsteps met Tidus' ears as his friends came running up the stairs. "Oh, shit!" Arlan gasped, leaning over the wooden railing. "I think I'm gonna vomit."

"What's wrong?" Szera mocked, poking him in the back. "Scared of a little blood, are we, Arlan? Funny how this comes from the guy who wanted to watch a slasher flick." The redhead's smirk faded as she glanced at the bloody hand print on Tidus' wrist. "Get up," she told him.

Tidus did as he was told and pulled himself to his feet. "Now what?" he said. "We're short one." His blue eyes turned to Arlan who was now heaving into the water. "One idiot."

Szera remained silent, motioning for Tidus to sit down. He did so, and watched mutely as Szera and Teyron lowered his guardian to the deck. Tidus felt tears prick his eyes and immediately saw his mother in Auron's place. He turned away and clamped his eyes shut, praying to whatever god there was that he wouldn't be forced to live through the horrid flames of Hell again. He took a chance, his eyes darting to the scene, only to spot blood seeping from a wound in his guardian's chest.

Tidus jumped up, his head clasped in his hands. "I can't do this..." he said shakily. "I just can't..."

Teyron stood, placing a hand on Tidus' shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't!" Tidus shouted, leaping down the stairs. He turned and ran down the docks, ignoring his friends' frantic cries. As he ran, he noticed that several lights in the neighboring houses flickered on, some of the residents even coming outside to see what all the noise was about. But Tidus ignored them all, even the old lady that tried to question him about the shouting. He ran past all of them, wanting nothing more than to escape the horrid scene of death.

I don't want this! Why does everyone keep dying? Why? Why?

When he finally ran out of breath, he collapsed on the dock, heart pounding wildly in his chest, screaming to be free. He lay there for several minutes, the cold night air chilling him to the bone. But he didn't care. He wasn't about to turn around and go back to watch Auron die. He couldn't. He wouldn't. The sound of approaching footsteps soon reached his ears. Tidus sat upright and turned to see the old lady from before hobbling towards him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, her wrinkled face watching him with worry.

Tidus nodded, reminding himself of the words she had once spoken to him: _"When a lovebird dies, the one left gives up living so it can join it's mate."_

"Everything's wrong," he muttered, clutching his head in his hands. "It's all so wrong!"

Her frail little hand came to rest upon his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Life is hard, dear," she said soothingly. "We all have troubles, we all have hardships. But we can always overcome them. Truly, things seem hopeless at first. But believe you me, nothing is nearly as bad as it seems. You learn to cope with the problems, and, eventually forget about them for a time."

He nodded and got to his feet, thanking her. Not at all eager to return home, Tidus offered to walk the woman home, to which she happily accepted. Her house was only three doors down from his own, but at least keeping her company would delay the troubles that awaited him at home. When they arrived at her house, the kindly old woman offered to make him a cup of coffee. As tempting as it was, Tidus declined, knowing that he should get back home.

The teen trudged silently down the docks, half expecting Szera to run to him in tears. But she never came. He glanced towards the roof, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw no one there. Tidus approached the door, silently knocking with his gloved hand. The door creaked open, and Tidus walked inside, quietly closing the door behind him. Shockingly, his friends were still there, planted firmly on the couch in front of the sphere.

"Hey, he's back," Teyron said as Tidus walked in. "Welcome home."

Tidus raised a hand, giving his friend a brief wave. "Where's Szera?" he asked, noting that she wasn't with the guys.

Arlan sighed, downing a glass of water. "Downstairs," he said simply. "She's pretty pissed off at you. Watch your back."

He nodded, kicking off his boots before walked glumly down the hall in sock feet. Tidus stopped in his tracks when he reached the stairs. His stomach sank and guilt filled him to the breaking point. He sighed, not at all eager to get his ass handed to him by Szera. For all he knew, she just might use Auron's sword to hack him to bits. Trying not to think too much about it, Tidus descended the stairs and approached the door, knocking lightly.

A rustling sound came from inside, and the door abruptly opened to reveal a teary-eyed Szera. Tidus opened his mouth to apologize, but Szera's open-handed slap beat him to it. Eyes cast to the floor, Tidus silently took the blow, not at all interested in angering his friend further.

"You're heartless," she hissed, smacking him again. "I can't believe you'd run away like that! After everything he's done for you, you up and run when things get bad! I can't believe you!

Tidus hung his head. "I know. I'm sorry."

Szera slapped him a third time for good measure, only to embrace him afterward. "You're stupid," she whispered as tears fell from her eyes. "Stupid."

"I know," he said.

"You'd better apologize when he wakes up," she demanded, closing the door behind them. "And if you don't, I'll beat you within an inch of you fucking life."

Tidus nodded. "I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want you all to know this: THIS IS NOT SHOUNENAI, YAOI, OR ANYTHING ELSE. It's not even IMPLIED. I don't LIKE things like that, and I don't write them, either. It's basically the same thing that would happen if your best friend were dying on the street. It's regret (for not being able to stop the horrible things from happening to them), sorrow, and fear (for their life). That's all. So don't start saying things like "OMG that's so kute! They're so hot together!" Just don't do it. Thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> The characters of Szera, Teyron, and Arlan are my original characters. Name pronunciations are as follows.   
> Szera - Pronounced as "Zera"  
> Teyron - Pronounced as "Terran"  
> Arlan - Pronounced as "Arlyn"


End file.
